77 / 2021-06-25 09:39:50

ESL/EFL learners’ responses to teacher written feedback: Reviewing a recent decade of empirical studies from a sociocultural perspective

ESL/EFL learners’ responses, teacher written feedback, sociocultural theory of mind, English writing

Teacher written feedback (TWF) has long been regarded as a necessary pedagogical tool for improving the writing proficiency of ESL/EFL learners, while student responses to this feedback can often reflect its effectiveness. This study reviews 26 articles appearing in high-ranking journals from 2010-2021 in terms of the research methodology, theoretical framework and main findings. Findings revealed that there is a need for longitudinal naturalistic studies adopting mixed methods to better explain feedback and learner variables. Apart from the learner engagement framework, few studies have investigated learner responses using other theoretical frameworks employing sociocultural theory (SCT) which appears necessary for examining learners’ dynamic engagement. And the main findings of the previous studies revealed the diverse responses among learners at different language proficiency levels and sociocultural factors. The results of the review indicate that future research could be class-based mixed research investigating learner variables from the SCT perspective.